Mr. Jamal, why is the advent of smart devices changing the world of measurement technology?
Jamal: The current topics - Internet of Things (IoT), Industry 4.0 and the resulting areas of application such as smart grid, smart mobility and smart factory - are bringing with them a whole new breed of devices - both in the commercial and industrial sectors. Devices that have a much more flexible range of functions than previous devices, can be assigned additional or different functions much more quickly and can be modified flexibly. Conventional measurement technology is not up to these rapidly changing requirements.

Why no longer?
Jamal: Well, there are two approaches to meeting the requirements in the field of testing and measurement. The first assumes that the manufacturer knows exactly what the customer needs - better than the customer himself. This approach involves complete solutions with predefined functionality tailored to specific use cases, as is the case with box measuring devices.

The second approach is a platform approach. Here the focus is on interoperability and the user's ability to both automate and customize each solution with modular hardware and flexible software. In other words, the customer has control over how their solution ultimately looks; the manufacturer simply provides them with the tools that enable them to develop the solution. This approach is becoming increasingly important today, particularly because the rapid developments in IoT and IIoT mean that the customer's products often change within a very short space of time. As a result, customers are now much better able to assess which measurement technology functions they may need in the short term. In other words, we need to put customers in a position where they can adapt their measurement technology to their needs themselves.

But isn't that why some measurement technology manufacturers are already going down the path of PXI-based modularization?
Jamal: Interestingly, some representatives of the first approach I just mentioned - who, by the way, once swore never to acknowledge PXI - have now jumped on the PXI bandwagon. But they still pack these boards into a fixed housing, configure the device to its final function and thus provide a rigid functional framework - but that's only half the battle! A really smart test system is based on modular hardware - such as PXI - but also on flexible software - in our case LabVIEW. A very important point, however, is an associated and constantly growing dynamic ecosystem. Examples of such open, dynamic ecosystems are Apple, Android, Coursera or Yelp. And it is precisely such an ecosystem of developers, partners, integrators and intellectual property that we at NI have always championed. This means that the user is not limited to the innovations of the respective manufacturer's development team.

What do the smart test systems really do for the customer? Can you give an example?
Jamal: Our customer Qualcomm Atheros is a perfect example of this. Originally, they used stand-alone measurement devices to characterize 8021.11a/b/- and g protocols on their chip. They first switched to PXI, but kept the original software architecture and were able to achieve a tenfold reduction in test times simply by using the PXI hardware platform. Using the first generation vector signal transceiver (VST) and LabVIEW FPGA, they then closely synchronized the control of the digital DUT with the RF front end of the VST. This resulted in a 200-fold reduction in test time - a huge improvement. In addition, they were able to add the test requirements for 802.11 n and ac.

With the second-generation VST, you are now continuing this device philosophy that you introduced four years ago with the first-generation VST. What are your next steps?
Jamal: We will continue to consistently pursue the approach of open hardware and flexible software. We are getting signals from the automotive industry in particular that manufacturers are desperately looking for suitable solutions. The topic of "smart" is currently making massive inroads there; the car of tomorrow is nothing other than a highly complex system - just like the factory of tomorrow - both the cars and the machines have to communicate with each other in a smart way. And software-designed architecture is needed to cover these tasks properly in terms of measurement technology.

The second generation

National Instruments is now introducing the second generation of its vector signal transceiver (VST). According to National Instruments, the NI PXIe-5840 is the world's first 1 GHz bandwidth VST designed for RF design and test applications.

The VST provides a 6.5 GHz RF vector signal generator, a 6.5 GHz vector signal analyzer, a user-programmable FPGA, and high-speed serial and parallel digital interfaces in a PXI Express module that occupies only two slots in the chassis. With a bandwidth of 1 GHz, the new VST is suitable for a wide range of applications, including testing 802.11ac/ax, cellular and IoT devices, developing and testing 5G technologies, RFIC testing and prototyping radar systems.

The VST is an integral part of the NI platform that enables users to create smarter test systems. The platform includes more than 600 PXI products - from DC to mm-wave frequencies - that support data transfers over 3rd generation PCI Express interfaces. In addition, they enable sub-nanosecond synchronization and offer integrated timing and trigger functions. With the help of the functions of the LabVIEW development environments and the TestStand test management software in combination with the ecosystem of partners, additional IP and application engineers, users can also further reduce their test costs, shorten time-to-market and prepare their test systems now for the requirements of tomorrow, according to NI.